Aceh Road/Bridge Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Project

Third Largest Earthquake Triggers Tsunamis

On December 26, 2004, the third largest earthquake ever recorded in the world struck 150 km off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.  The 9.2 magnitude quake lasted for almost 10 minutes, triggering a series of tsunamis as high as 30 m that killed an estimated 230,000 people and destroyed coastal communities in 11 countries between Southeast Asia and the eastern coast of Africa.

Given the catastrophic events, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) immediately identified the need to reconstruct the national road that runs along the coastline as pivotal in restoring the economic and social fabric of Aceh.  To move this vision forward, USAID signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indonesian Ministry of Public Works to design, rehabilitate, and reconstruct the road from Banda Aceh to Meulaboh.  USAID then contracted with Parsons to prepare the design and manage the construction.  The Aceh Road/Bridge Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Project is the successful coordination of two of Parsons’ global business units: Transportation and Infrastructure & Technology.

As many as 175,000 people died in Aceh, Indonesia’s northernmost province on the island of Sumatra.  The impact of the tsunami’s costs in terms of human, social, economic, and infrastructure will be felt for many years to come.  The suffering of those who survived this horrendous human tragedy was made exponentially worse by the destruction of critical infrastructure such as water supply, power, roads, bridges, sanitation, hospitals, and schools.

One of the most vital pieces of infrastructure destroyed by the tsunami was the coastal road running south from Aceh’s provincial capital of Banda Aceh, toward the west to Meulaboh, one of Aceh’s major economic hubs where one-third of the city’s 120,000 people lost their lives.  The 242-km road linking Meulaboh to Banda Aceh was the economic backbone of the region and included more than 110 bridges and crossings, all of which were damaged or destroyed.  The strength of the tsunami enabled it to move and reshape whole sections of coastline and lift complete lengths of bridge spans and dump them hundreds of meters away.  The view is still surreal: when driving along the damaged road today, one sees bridge abutments standing isolated in the ocean.

During the design phase of the new road, the Japan International Cooperation System paved and widened the emergency road in the southern section between Calang (Km 155) and Meulaboh (Km 242).  Although the road and bridges in this segment have a narrower width and the pavement has a shorter design life than in the section constructed by USAID, in order to minimize future maintenance costs and enable the best use of the available funds collectively provided by the two agencies, USAID agreed to focus on reconstructing the northern section between Banda Aceh and Calang and, pending availability of budget and provision of the required right-of-way, construct an additional 13-km bypass just north of Meulaboh.

In designing the new two-lane road, Parsons had to take into account Aceh’s unique blend of rainforest, coastal swamplands, and steep limestone hills.  The alignment’s design also had to include segments of new road—to replace the roads that had disappeared where the coastline was reshaped—and then link these new roads with segments of the preexisting road that had to be rehabilitated and often widened.

New Road Provides Safer, More Direct Route

The designs of the road and bridges have been prepared in accordance with the highway standards of both the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). When feasible, existing meandering alignments have been straightened to provide a safer and more direct route.

Sections of the road are also being constructed inland from the coast and on higher ground to improve the road’s durability.  This redesign has resulted in cuts of up to 65 m in height and, similarly, fills of up to 35 m in order to balance the earthwork as much as possible.  Collectively, Parsons is managing the construction of 148 km of new and rehabilitated road, as well as 28 steel truss and concrete bridges and 248 drainage culverts.

To meet the design’s demanding time schedule, respond to the challenge of dealing with such an enormous level of destruction, and operate in a region still afflicted by 30 years of insurgency and civil conflict, Parsons established a unique and diverse project team that tapped into our worldwide network of resources. Parsons’ administrative project management is in Jakarta, close to the U.S. Embassy, where USAID resides. The hands-on project team that is supervising the road construction is based at its main regional office in Banda Aceh and in two field offices 80 and 137 km further south along the alignment. The Parsons team in these three offices includes Indonesian and expatriate professionals tasked with overseeing all aspects of the road’s construction and quality control—and for ensuring the road is built according to approved plans and specifications. Design and field construction support for the project is provided by various Parsons U.S. offices led by the Parsons Chicago office.

Project oversight involves managing two separate construction contracts:

• Priority contract, tendered to an Indonesian contractor, in order to construct 41 km of mainly new road in the highly traveled northern area approaching Banda Aceh.  In May 2008, USAID descoped the partially completed southernmost 13 km segment of the priority contract to enable the contractor to focus on completing and opening the remainder.  Issues with the community that had obstructed progress in the descoped segment have since been resolved, and the remaining works are expected to restart later this year with a different contractor.
• Prime contract, which constructs the remaining portions of the road from Banda Aceh to Calang, about 150 km south of Banda Aceh.

One of the project’s most important challenges has been coordinating with local residents and authorities to gain their support for the project and acquire the land needed for the road’s rights of way.  Complicating this process was the tsunami’s destruction and loss of official records regarding land titles and property ownership.

Obtaining legal access to the land needed for the rights of way often involved lengthy negotiations and compensation issues and, ultimately, the procurement of more than 3,800 properties.  This number is large for any country—for Sumatra, it is a tragically large figure because most of the landowners were killed in the tsunami.

Working with communities along the road required special consideration for local sensitivities such as dealing with concerns about relocating gravesites or how the road would affect the area’s customs and beliefs, which happened in one area where local legend says the community’s graves are guarded by a mystical white tiger.

USAID and Parsons are also committed to transferring to the Acehnese engineering community knowledge and experience with international standards in roadway design, construction methods, safety, and environmental management.  The legacy of this project will not just be the smooth, safe, and durable new road but the expectation that Aceh Road will set the standard that will improve the quality of future roads.

Parsons’ global workforce provides the technical capabilities required to solve complex problems and develop cost-effective solutions in various market areas.  Parsons’ working relationship with USAID dates to the early 1960s.  In the 50 years since then, Parsons has teamed with USAID on projects around the globe, providing services in the transport, water, power, education, and health sectors.  For more information about this vital reconstruction project, visit the project’s website: www.acehroad.org.

Services Provided: Design and Construction Management

Client: U. S. Agency for International Development.